Cold Spell Freezes Europe: Dozens Dead Across the Continent

Europe has been struck by one of the worst cold spells in year. Massive amounts of snow have fallen across the continent this week, causing flight cancellations and transportation delays.

Snow has fallen as far south as Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in Spain, and on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.

But worse than the snow was the cold. Temperatures have dropped to below minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Europe, and in the worst-affected countries like Ukraine and Poland, dozens of people have died since the storm hit earlier this week and continued into Friday.

Forecasts are good for Southern Europe, and the cold front is migrating north. However, that could bring more trouble to already suffering countries like Poland and Belarus before frigid weather moves to the Balkans and then to Scandinavia.

Ukraine: A total of 101 people have died from freezing temperatures in the Ukraine, including the 38 deaths on Thursday.

Most of the victims were homeless people, and 64 of the 101 were found on the street. Another 11 people died while receiving medical treatment and several hundred homeless people have been taken to the hospital with cases of frostbite and hypothermia. Hospitals received orders not to discharge homeless patients after treatments in order to keep them indoors.

In cities around Ukraine, the Emergencies Ministry has set up a total of 3,000 heated tents, according to Reuters, and is passing out hot food and drinks. Additionally, schools were closed and there were nationwide travel disruptions.

During the cold spell, overnight temperatures have dropped to minus-27 degrees Fahrenheit.

Poland: Officials have recorded 37 deaths during the past week as temperatures dipped below minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country.

In Warsaw, authorities handed out food to homeless people not in shelters.

Serbia: Snow and foul weather cut off remote villages and 11,000 residents. Emergency services had to rescue some citizens who were stranded in the mountain regions. Six people have died, as of Friday.

Romania and Turkey: Temperatures were so low -- minus-26 degrees in Romania -- that the Black Sea froze. Earlier this week, the freezing conditions hampered the efforts of Turkish rescuers trying to find eight missing crew members of the Vera, a Cambodian cargo ship that sank near Eregli on Tuesday.

Additionally, access to 2,000 villages in Turkey was cut off, The Associated Press reported.

Hungary: According to reports, people in Hungary who can't afford to heat their homes have headed to local coal mines, where there foraged for lumps of coal beneath 10 inches from frozen ground.

Italy: Snow in Rome is very rare, but this week the eternal city was blanketed in white this week.

France: With heaters running at full blast in most French home, the country's top electric grids have asked customers to moderate their use at peak evening hours.

Germany: Not every aspect of the cold spell has been bleak. The iced-over Wendelstein Church in Germany -- the country's highest Church, built atop a mountain in the Bavarian Alps -- has been attracting a steady flow of tourists, EuroNews reported.